Last week I went to Chicago, which is a very good food town. I kept thinking of that SNL skit parodying Mike Ditka, the Chicago Bears coach, which always featured him eating loads of fried and unhealthy foods and drinking beer. No joke, you can eat like that in Chicago. Viva the midwest! I had my fill of various "traditional" foods like deep dish pizza, a Chicago dog, and an Italian beef sandwich (which was like a cheesesteak). We also ate a ton of other great food, including dim sum, brunch food (featured below), high-end fusion food, southern-style barbeque, Persian, and sushi. Anyway, the sandwich below was nothing to write home about, from Orange Restaurant, a brunch place. HOWEVER, I did like the idea of including a sweet taste in what essentially was a savory sandwich. I guess I wasn't enthused because the description was so fancy "raspberry pink peppercorn sandwich" ... and then it just tasted like a sandwich with raspberry jam ... which is what is was. Here's a way to recreate this below:

raspberry-peppercorn egg sandwich on wheat bread

Ellen had a vegetable omelet

Ingredients

2 slices wheat bread, toasted

1 egg, beaten

2 slices bacon

raspberry jam

pink peppercorns, grounded (or regular ground pepper)

arugula leaves

Preparation

To make a good omelet, use a nonstick pan or a ton of butter. Beat your egg. Some people add milk, yogurt, or a bit of sour cream to the egg. Heat up the pan on low-medium heat, add some butter, and pour your egg in. When the egg is beginning to set, take the pan handle and give it a violent shake away from you (following a horizontal line outward). The omelet should begin to turn on itself. If it doesn't, or it sticks, you should not shoot yourself - it's going into a sandwich and doesn't need to be pretty. Salt and pepper it.

Next, make your bacon. I like making bacon in a microwave ... trust! Just put down two paper towels, your bacon, and then cover with a paper towel. Heat for 1-2 minutes (depending on the strength of your microwave) or until bacon is done. This is way easier than juggling bacon in a pan during a busy brunch preparation.